The Lanesfield School

This school is the only building which remains on the townsite of Lanesfield, a mail stop on the Santa Fe Trail. Built in 1869, the school is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One can step back in time and experience one-room school education in Kansas. One can also pack a lunch to enjoy at the picnic shelter and then walk the 1.5 minute nature trail. The 78 acres of restored prairie showcase native grasses and wildflowers which would have greeted early Kansas settlers on their journey west. Explore the Santa Fe Trail and Bull Creek, the site of a pre-Civil War skirmish, along the prairie trail. The Johnson County museums are joined in partnership by Kansas City Power & Light Company, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, and the Kansas Department of Wild life and Parks.

Oak Grove School

Submitted by Ruby Woolery Freeman

Made of stone. It had a basement which housed the furnace and coal room with a pumping drinking water. The basement had concrete floor. Upstairs was two coat rooms Entrance hall and a library nook. Big windows were on the West side. Two outside toilets and a shed for horses or bicycles. This was built by Jonathan Wollery and Jim Yokum.

This is where I attended school until the fifth grade when we moved to Kansas City. The city schools did not think I would be able to keep up with the fifth grade and wanted me to repeat the fourth grade. My mother protested and they agreed to give me a test and I scored ninth grade level. The education I received in this school was outstanding and we never had homework or tests. The teacher knew what we had learned and we not only learned the material we were able to put it to use. I learned much when the other classes would recite their lessons. It was a wonderful place. Papa would go early in the morning and build the fire for the teacher and so the school would be warm when we all arrived for classes. I wish all children could have the opportunity of the small school and the loving teachers we had.